The Presidential Candidate of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has accused government of concealing the severity of Ghana’s power crisis while allegedly setting the stage to offload a USD2 billion debt onto a future NDC administration if the party wins the December 7 election.

Speaking to supporters in Ehiamankyene, Krachi West District, Mr. Mahama criticised government’s refusal to implement a load-shedding timetable, claiming it is a tactic to mislead the public about the depth of the crisis.

He linked the recent disruptions in power supply to Sunon Asogli’s exit from the sector, attributing this to unpaid government debts.

“We do not have a stable plant because Sunon Asogli has shut down its plant due to significant unpaid debt owed by the government.

“As a result, dumsor has returned, and this is because the government is not being truthful with Ghanaians.”

Mr. Mahama argued that in contrast to his previous administration’s open handling of the power crisis, the current government is afraid of taking accountability.

“The current government refuses to [declare a load-shedding schedule] because they fear being blamed for bringing back dumsor,” he added.

Mr. Mahama further alleged that the administration aims to leave a USD2 billion energy sector debt for the next government, should it be the NDC.

“They are trying to shift this burden onto us,” he said, stressing that such a debt would cripple efforts to stabilize the sector.

Projecting a strong turnout for the NDC, Mr. Mahama outlined his strategy for the election, asserting that the party would win the Greater Accra Region by a margin of 300,000 votes.

“We want to increase the vote that we get from Volta and the Oti regions, and I am sure that if we are able to do that, it will also increase our vote in Greater Accra.

 “We need to widen the gap in the Volta region,” the NDC Presidential candidate stated.

 Mr. Mahama also emphasised the importance of minimising the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) votes in the Volta region.